(500) Days of Building Slowly
by PipTheOrphan
Summary: Nothing that is ever worth anything happens quickly.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I recently re-watched _(5OO) Days of Summer_, which is one of my favorite movies, so I've been wanting to do a similar theme with one of my favorite pairings. I was thinking Inception or Hetalia for the fandom, but I'm not honestly satisfied with how "Smile" is coming along, and I listened to Prince's "Raspberry Beret" for twenty minutes today, and that always reminds me of Buffy (or, really, Xander/Anya) for some reason, so . . . between that and watching _Torchwood_, which James is in, the idea occurred to me. Enjoy.

* * *

There are two types of lovers in the world; those who act upon love, and those who _are _love, people who can love unconditionally, who are consumed by it.

William is the second type of lover. He has loved three women during his life-time. The first, Celicity, did not return his love; he wrote poems of her beauty, and he was mocked for it. He was not much of a man, he was told-that was the last that he would let a woman know of the sonnets that he wrote for her. The second, Dru, unlike the first, fed his passion; though he was not as sensitive as before, he could fawn over her, he could let her know that she was loved and wanted-and, though she was not faithful, and sometimes she was fickle, she would do something the first would not; she would allow such affection. But the second woman, he was woe to realize too late, allowed this so she could silently laugh at him, so she could see the immense pain in his eyes when she, too, hurt him. From this one, he lost not his desire and passion but his quick forgiveness-and, even more unfortunately, some of his kindness, some of his lustre for affection. The third one, Buffy, he wanted just as badly as the first two-more so-but this one he learned to love silently. Oh, she knew-there was no doubt that she knew. They even had a tryst together for a while, but in the end, she, too, did not really want him; she was a mix of the first two women, in a way. After hurting one another, after instances of intimacy that he wanted and she accepted, they became something akin to friends, and it would simply have to be good enough, because it was all she was going to give him-still it was better than what the other two had left him with. He was not broken or bitter this time-at least not completely-just wiser and maybe a bit hopeful for the future.

Andrew, on the other hand, is full of hope. Never a lover, always waiting for someone to realize how special he truly is. There was one instance with a man, Warren, where he thought that he was getting close, but . . . well, that was in the past. He has a firm belief that things will get better, that they have to. Not that he was in a rush looking for Mr. Right. There were guys that he met and liked, but what made Warren special was that they were friends; they had similar interests, Andrew could actually _talk _to him; he would actually _talk _to Andrew. So, friends first. A boyfriend would be great, but he wasn't going to actively look for someone.

They have that last bit in common.

**(70)**

"I don't know, I don't think you'll do it."

They're sitting in a bar, somewhere between work and Spike's place, somewhere he visits often. They've been there half the night now, and Spike is well on his way to being more than a little drunk, whereas Andrew has barely drunk anything, wanting to savor the night. It was loosening the older man up, making him, to Andrew's delightment, even a little giddy. He usually felt uncomfortable around intoxicated people, but drunk Spike? Drunk Spike was nice.

"You don't think I-you don't think _I _will do something? Oh, you're _on_,mate."

Spike spends the next five minutes on stage, singing his drunken heart out to a band Andrew has never heard of but will be sure to Google in the morning. (He also records the moment on his phone, but that's a secret just for him.)

**(1)**

Spike is staying in Los Angeles. He's there a week before Angel, the caring sod, begrudgingly offers him a job as a bodyguard to one of his more risk-involved clients. It's two weeks later before he accepts the job; the client is dead (or paid; he isn't sure and doesn't care enough to ask) but he stays on anyway, doing the odd protection job here and there. He doesn't like it as much as he could-the clients are usually on the bad side, and Angel could irritate anyone-but the pay is good, and, more importantly, it gives him something to do during the day.

It's on his third day at the job, while he's walking around (lost) aimlessly, that he stops the mail guy to ask him if he's seen his ex (because Harmony is close to Angel's office, and from there, he can find his way around). The guy is caught off guard, probably surprised that someone is actually talking to him. He knows who he's talking about; the two are apparently friends, but Spike doesn't honestly care. After a quick "thanks," he wonders off, not paying any mind to the guy's attempt at making conversation with him.

So it isn't love at first sight; neither one of them are, as said, looking for someone-just yet.

**(71)**

When Spike wakes up, he's groaning. He silently swears to never drink again, something he's done and broken time and time again; it goes hand in hand with his swear that he'll drink harder. He sits up slowly, finding himself on his bed, dressed the same as the night before, save his jacket is off of him, resting on the chair in the room.

"I, uh, tried to change you, but you kept kicking at me . . ."

He isn't startled; he figured the bloke would spend the night, thinking he would also be drunk. He didn't realize that the man was in the room with him though, laying on the floor next to the bed. He wonders if he nosed around the apartment, but the thought doesn't bother him; he doesn't have anything laying around that he wouldn't want to be seen. (One night stands are common with him, after all.)

He looks Andrew over, checking to make sure there aren't any visible signs that they had sex.

"Breakfast. Now."

* * *

**A/N: **The band that I imagine Spike singing to is The Ramones, if anyone is curious.


	2. Chapter 2

**(3)**

So maybe it wasn't _love _at first sight for Andrew-but it was definitely interest. Of course, he is interested in a lot of people-Mr. Wyndam-Pryce being one of them-but he has heard stories of Spike from the people at the office; stories of heroic and wonder and great abs. (He's often wondered about Mr. Wyndam-Pryce's abs, too. Word is, Spike's are better.) Even before the guy officially started working there, there were whispers. . .

Speaking of whispers, he's approaching his gossipy gal-pal Harmony's desk when he sees the blonde. He's leaning forward, talking to her. Andrew knows that they dated in the past, and he's curious about whether or not it'll start up again. (He says this out loud, and the people passing by glance at him, used to the behavior.) He stops and watches as Spike taps her desk with his fingers twice, musing on what they're talking about, before the older man saunters off, a pleased, cocky, smile on his face.

Andrew waits as he's passed by, wondering (day-dreaming) if he's noticed, before awkwardly going over to his friend. She's happy to see him, and her smile makes him smile; like his friend, Anya, she is in his opinion the perfect woman; a Barbie doll.

He muses on who that would make Ken.

**(250)**

"I don't know what's bloody _wrong _with me lately, Buffy. I can't _stop_. He's always there, running around in my bleeding mind. Making me feel, making me . . whole."

She recalls him saying such things to her in the past, how uncomfortable it made her feel; as if she was unfortunate and shocked frozen at the same time. That he's sitting on her back porch saying it about someone else, that's also a shock. And the fact that he's talking about a man? He's always been open to new things sexually, she supposes. (Though she's wondered for a while if he had something going on in the past with Angel. Now that's an interesting thought. . .)

She wonders what this new guy looks like. She considers asking, but she doesn't want to interrupt.

"All . . the bleeding . . time . ."

**(71)**

They sit in the dinner in the middle of the day , eating breakfast foods-or, really, arguing over breakfast foods.

"Steak counts."

Of course it's cooked (or uncooked, in Andrew's opinion) rare, blood coating the other food on his plate. It makes Andrew feel queasy to look at it, but he doesn't say anything. (Or, really, he mutters about it, but Spike pretends he doesn't hear.)

"I don't think so. It's too big. They don't use big pieces of meat for breakfast."

He isn't sure if the look he receives is condescending or amused.

**(3)**

"You're not interested in him, are you?"

After talking about him for half an hour and asking a dozen or so questions, Harmony's finally picked up on it. It makes him nervous, uncomfortable, and he tries to take it back, pass it off as just being interested in her past life, but she won't have it.

"Because I can totally hook you two up."


	3. Chapter 3

When Andrew met Warren, it was through his brother. And his work. Kind of. He was visiting Tucker in Los Angeles for a weekend during his later high school years. His older brother decided a tour of his workplace was in order, since Andrew was considering applying there after graduation, and there he met one of his few friends.

He wishes he hadn't.

Warren Mears is a lot of things, he knows; the problem is figuring out which of these said things are real, and which ones are lies-because he is sure that if anything, Warren is a liar. They have that in common, though Andrew lacks the skills to manipulate people, which Warren excels in. Maybe it's the charisma, Andrew thought, back when he still put excessive thought into the man's actions. (Which, admittedly, wasn't that long ago.) He had to to figure out what was really going on, what Warren wanted him for-which he failed at. He didn't realize what was wanted from him until it was too late. But, that's another story for a different day.

Because a liar isn't the only thing that Andrew's sure about Warren being; he also knows, without any doubt, that Warren Mears is dead.

**(7)**

"Please, just this once. He's a really great guy, and he's lonely, and . . . did I mention he's really great?"

She claps her hands together excitedly and smiles. He hasn't agreed yet, but she's always liked to see what she could get away with in regards to him, to see what she could get him to do for her. Sometimes it has poor consequences in her favor, but she's always one to test. Besides, she (thinks that) knows how to get what she wants from him; he's easy in her eyes, in the eyes of most women who meet him.

"No way. Forget it. Don't ask again."

She swears he's met the bloke, but he can't remember what the guy looks like; it definitely wasn't an outstanding meeting. Not that it matters; he isn't interested. Maybe if it was a woman, but the Wolfram & Hart mail boy? No thanks, especially considering the fact that he's friends with Harmony; he reckons whoever it is doesn't have a unique thought in his head. Not that that would usually matter with hook ups, but he has different standards for men than women. If he's going to go on a date with another man, he's got to either be dead sexy, or he gets something fantastic out of it.

"What if . . . I sleep with you?"

Not that that is fantastic, but . . .

A shrug. He points, his finger in her face.

"Just this once. And he's paying for drinks."

**(200)**

"He didn't, um . . He didn't really like anyone. He didn't get along with people. I guess we had that in common."

Andrew takes a sip of his drink, something that Spike picked out, some type of alcohol. They're sitting on a couch together on what Andrew thinks may be a date; he's too nervous to ask. The place was Mr. Pryce's idea; it was somewhere that he took Ms. Burkle for their anniversary. He isn't quite sure whether it's technically a club or a restaurant. He isn't sure where he stands with his companion at this moment. He feels unsure of just about everything, except for two simple facts: a) he's hungry and b) Spike looks pretty great in red.

"Or, really, people don't like me. He just didn't . . . His ideas were different, you know? His goals were so much . . . higher . . ."

Meaning that Warren would use people to meet those goals.

He doesn't think that Spike understands what he means-and he's right. He doesn't elaborate though. Warren's a mood killer as it is, but he doesn't want to share. Not just yet. It can be kept as the simple, awkward ex talk for now.

"So, what about you?"


End file.
